Iran says no to foreign ships, ensures there's no need for aliens

Iran said that it doesn't want foreign ships in Persian Gulf and called outsiders "aliens".

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India Today Web Desk

August 28, 2018

UPDATED: August 28, 2018 09:43 IST

Iran said it can ensure the security of the Persian Gulf and there is no need for the presence of aliens like the US. (Photo: Reuters)

HIGHLIGHTS

Iran claims everything is under control

No need of aliens, says Iran on intervention of other countries

Tehran's naval chief said Iran is being misrepresented

The Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz are totally under control, says Iranian navy. Tehran's new naval chief declared that Iran does not need any "alien" presence around it.

"We can ensure the security of the Persian Gulf and there is no need for the presence of aliens like the US and the countries whose home is not in here," Rear Admiral Alireza Tangsiri, head of the naval branch of Irans Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), said on Monday, according to the Tasnim news agency.

Tangsiri said that having outsiders operate nuclear-powered ships in the Gulf will only create issues for Iran and its Arab neighbours. The naval chief also claimed that Iran has been misrepresented by its enemies in order to sell their weapons and deploy forces.

Straight of Hormuz, an important shipping lane for oil exports in the Gulf, may be closed from Tehran's side after the comments came out. Tankers carry 18.5 million barrels of crude oil through the strait every day.

However, the US and its Arab allies "stand ready to ensure the freedom of navigation and the free flow of commerce wherever international law allows," Lieutenant Chloe Morgan, spokesperson for the US Naval Forces Central Command, told Fox News on Monday.

The relationship between the US and Iran has already deteriorated after US President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew from 2015 nuclear deal. Though European powers, Russia and China have not repudiated the deal, the US has already reimposed some of the sanctions that were suspended and is threatening to punish anyone doing business with Iran.

Tehran recently revealed its new range of weapons, a fighter jet, and a short-range ballistic missile as well.

Former national security adviser General James Jones, earlier this month, also called Iran an "existential threat" to the Persian Gulf and Strait of Hormuz, as per an RT report.